Despite tough loss, Terps and Turgeon upbeat

COLLEGE PARK - It was difficult to say whether Mark Turgeon's comments on Monday were based more on hope or conviction.

But the Maryland basketball coach maintains that he likes where his team is - even with a 14-12 overall record - as the 2013-14 regular season heads into the home stretch.

"We have lost three out of four, but I feel like we've gotten a lot better. We've gotten a lot tougher," he said after Monday's practice, the Terrapins last before they play host to Wake Forest Tuesday night. "We've gained confidence. There are things we still need to work on. But when you start playing better, it's easier to narrow that down. When you're struggling, there's so much to work on - it's overwhelming. Now it's like they can see it and so you can break it down a little bit easier."

Turgeon says he remains encouraged by his team's play of late, especially on the road. Of course, considering how Maryland fared away from Comcast Center early in the season, it had nowhere to go but up. Earlier in the year, the Terrapins lost by 16 at Ohio State, by 20 at Pittsburgh and by 24 at Florida State.

But they've made progress. Last week they stayed within eight at then-No. 16 Virginia (the final was 61-53). They had a chance to upset then-No. 8 Duke on the road Saturday night, except that Charles Mitchell's hook rolled off the rim at the end, sticking Maryland with a 69-67 loss.

"What I like as a coach is my team's getting better," Turgeon said. "We didn't fold our tent when we had four of five (games) on the road. Our guys continued to compete and continued to get better. Don't count us out; there's a lot of basketball left."

Now the Terrapins get to play four of their last five regular-season games at home, another encouraging sign.

"We're excited to win some games now and get back on the winning track," said sophomore forward Jake Layman, who led Maryland with 18 points at Duke.

The narrow loss on the Blue Devil's homecourt only reinforced the nation that Maryland is playing better of late, according to Layman.

"It just helps our confidence," he said. "It shows that we can play with anybody. There's no letdown at all. We're playing hard, we're getting better. If we keep playing the way we re playing, good things are gonna happen for us."

The loss at Duke was Maryland's third this season (Connecticut and George Washington were the others) against a top 50 team that was decided by two points or fewer. Had those three results been reversed, Maryland would 17-9 overall, 7-6 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and in prime position for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. But things didn't turn out that way, and time is running out for the Terrapins to make up ground.

"There's a little frustration," Layman said. "But we have (No. 1) Syracuse coming in (to Comcast) and then (No. 14) Virginia again, so there's a lot to look forward to."

If Layman and the Terrapins want to see how much worse things could be, they need only look at tonight's opponent. Wake Forest has virtually the same overall record as Maryland (14-11), but has slumped significantly in the last five weeks.

The Deacons (4-8 in league play) have dropped five straight and eight of 11 while struggling to score. In those last 11 games, Wake Forest has failed to surpass 65 points seven times.

Coach Jeff Bzdelik, a former Washington Bullets assistant, is beginning to feel the heat. He's just 48-71 in three-plus years since taking over from Dino Gaudio and the local newspapers have begun to speculate about his future in Winston-Salem.

"Everyone encounters adversity," Bzdelik said on the ACC basketball coaches teleconference on Monday. "It's how you deal with it that determines your destiny. We've got to fight out way through it."